‘Threat to public order’: BBC reporter deported from Turkey after covering protests

BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen was taken from his Istanbul hotel on Wednesday.

Turkish anti riot police officers stand guard as students take part in a rally in support of Istanbul arrested mayor, in Istanbul, on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

Turkey has deported a BBC journalist covering protests in the country, telling him he was “a threat to public order”, the British broadcaster said Thursday.

BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen was taken from his Istanbul hotel on Wednesday in what BBC News CEO Deborah Turness called “an extremely troubling incident”.

“Mark is a very experienced correspondent with a deep knowledge of Turkey and no journalist should face this kind of treatment simply for doing their job. We will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey,” she said, adding that representations had been made to Turkish authorities.

A student makes a grey-wolf salute during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor. Picture: AFP

Lowen said upon arrival in London that “to be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing”.

Week-long protests, the largest to grip the country in decades, have swept Turkey since the March 19 arrest of Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

Since then, more than 1,850 people have been detained, including 11 journalists covering the protests.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was “outraged” by Turkey’s expulsion of Lowen and its accusation that he was a threat to public order.

“This is how (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s regime regards journalism, and tries to prevent foreign reporters from doing their jobs,” said Erol Onderoglu of RSF in Turkey.

“RSF calls on the Turkish authorities to stop using the legal system to criminalise journalists and to lift the arbitrary bans on Lowen and other foreign journalists’ entry into Turkish territory,” Mr Onderoglu added.

Turkish courts on Thursday ordered the release of seven journalists, including an AFP photographer.

Turkey’s broadcasting regulator RTUK meanwhile said it was imposing a 10-day broadcast ban on opposition TV channel Sozcu over claims of incitement in its coverage of the mass protests.